Chapter Text
Francis never thought of himself as a coward. Cautious and self-preserving, yes, but coward? Absolutely not. And yet he found himself to be less brave than the little boy marching confidently in front of him. As if every step he made was worth it. Francis didn't have the heart to crush his hopes. Peter was just a child, who wanted a sibling's love. Francis knew he would give everything to hug.....her again. Francis felt his heart grow heavy. "Funny" he thought "I would assume one gets over it with years."
He was snapped back to reality by Peter's excited chatter.
"I can't believe Arthur's a dark wizard. I mean what's up with that. Although I guess, you don't choose the way you're born. Maybe he can even make dark storms appear? Or do you think he'd be connected to the moon? No, that sounds more like a werewolf than anything...."
"Are you sure you should be this excited? I mean don't get me wrong, but we aren't exactly meeting the sugarplum fairy." Francis reminded, hoping he wasn't too harsh. Evidently he wasn't, because after Peter's brief pause, he waved it off.
"So? He is still my brother. He wouldn't hurt me." And yet again Francis found himself at a loss of words. No. He didn't want to be the one to ruin Peter's hopes. Hope was something so pure and yet so fragile. How could anyone just kill it?
"Let's hope you are right." He replied. Peter kept quiet for a while. Truth was he wasn't sure. The closer he got, the more scared he was. He didn't know Arthur existed till few days ago. What if Arthur was some evil sorcerer who would curse him on sight..or worse? And it wasn't like he could protect himself and Francis against Arthur's magic. Only Dylan could. Peter shook it off. No. He refused to believe that his own flesh and blood would want to hurt him. He didn't know Arthur, but a little voice in his heart kept whispering "Don't give up. Listen to your intuition." Well, his intuition kept telling him to keep going. He would find out the truth about his brother and maybe even his mother. And Arthur wouldn't harm him.
He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks at Francis then ahead. There stood an old, not well-kept castle. It looked as if it had withered many storms and yet the trees around it were untouched.
"Is this it?" Peter asks, his voice quiet.
"It should be. At least that's what I've heard." Francis answers. This was it. His chance to get his answers.
They walked ahead. Surprisingly it wasn't as protected as they had expected. As if Arthur had thought no one would bother coming to a castle like this.
Peter, however was at awe. There was an odd sense of warmth in it. For one the garden was surprisingly well-kept. And yet it was striking an odd balance between pretty and eerie. For all the flowers in the garden were either black roses or lilies. Pretty and yet it left an odd feeling in Peter's stomach as if something was off. Distracted from the garden and determined to find the owner of the castle, neither of them noticed a small fairy looking at them from behind the roses. She tilted her head a bit, flowing red hair behind her, as she smirked. Oh Arthur would love that for sure. She flew quickly, unseen.
Francis was just as mesmerized from the garden. He knew it was stupid and he probably shouldn't, but how couldn't he. It was oddly pretty and he liked beauty in all it's forms. Even if it was slightly morbid. As the two newfound friends neared the entrance of the castle, a voice spoke behind them.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
And sure enough, behind them stood Arthur Kirkland. The man both Francis and Peter had come to find. Peter was a bit taken aback. He barely looked the same like in the picture. Obviously he was older, but something about his eyes had changed. As if all the light from them had been absorbed. His eyes didn't seem bright at all. In fact they were dull and muted compared to Peter's lively deep blue eyes.
"Arthur?" Peter couldn't almost believe he wasn't dreaming. The brother he hadn't know about was here. In the flesh.
"Now who are you two and why are you here?" Arthur asked again, slightly annoyed. Clearly he had better things to do than stand around with two people he didn't want to see. Peter couldn't help himself and ran up to Arthur to hug him. However his brother took a step back.
"Answer my bloody question!" He demanded.
"I am Peter. Your brother."
A flash of recognition went through Arthur's eyes. He eyed him then Francis. His face quickly returned to neutral.
"Leave."
"What?! But I just came here!" Peter wasn't satisfied with this turn of events.
"Well, now you will go back. You have wasted your time. Let that be a lesson."
"Well, I am already here. Are you really going to send us back through the dark forest just because you can't spare few hours?" Peter challenged.
Francis chose to stay out of it. His questions could wait. Peter's chance to talk to his brother seemed more important.
Arthur groaned. He then called out to the fairy who had spied on them earlier.
"Arvory, take the kid to one of the nicer rooms. I will take care of the other nuisance."
Francis wasn't sure why Arthur was talking to the air or why Peter was following the nothing, but he was more insulted by the wizard's words.
"So, is this where you have been hiding for so many years. How long has it been? Eight years?" Francis asked as he was following Arthur.
"Do we know each other?" The wizard asked, in a mock innocence.
"Are you really trying to convince me you don't remember me not Jeanne?"
Arthur paused, facing Francis.
"Any bad memories you have are your problem, not mine. Have you tried memory potions. I hear they do marvelous job messing with one's head." He replied with a slight chuckle that held no humour. Francis didn't know what was worse. Being faced by a man, who rejoiced at the very idea of hurting others or someone, who was nothing more than a shadow of his former self.